The Lost Seas

Ambush of the Altar Skulkers

Paying the Levy 8 & 9

24

SEP/12

Recorded by scholars studying the life of Zuri.

It was a trap! Our heroes found themselves and their tenuous allies surrounded on all sides by a band of miserable-looking souls brandishing blades of obsidian and their seemingly trained team of baazrags. Curiously, just standing near these foul combatants filled our heroes with a vile necrotic pain, leading some to fear that they were possibly battling undead monstrosities of the Dragon’s design. The party fought reluctantly alongside their foes the Red Chord, but felt little sorrow as tarek after tarek fell to the advancing horde.

As the battle raged on, a mysterious figure was seen standing atop a ridge, shouting down commands over the battlefield. Even more mysterious was that behind this presumed necromancer was Agma, the veiled alliance halfling who had earlier been freed from the slave column by Zuri. Agma had apparently pleaded with the mysterious figure to spare her allies and instead focus his attacks on the remaining Red Chord members. As allegiances appeared to shift mid-battle, Vilsis sensed the moment had arrived to rid Athas of the Red Chord menace and aimed an arrow towards the shocked face of Eenga. Bost too turned to engage the Tarek now enraged by our heroes’ devious betrayal. As the final blows fell upon her and her Red Chord brethren, a flash of insight shot across Eenga’s face as she finally realized just where she had seen Bost’s beautiful armor before…

In the aftermath of the battle it was learned that these mysterious assailants were not in fact minions of the undead but rather a tribe of Altar Skulkers led by their leader Joaquim. The Altar Skulkers, it was learned, were comprised of escaped slaves once meant for the dragon’s levy, now devoted to harrying the slave columns as they approach the Dragon’s Altar each year. Joaquim made our heroes a proposition: aid them in their attacks on the column in exchange for safe passage and aid to the Altar.

Our heroes accepted, and what followed was a night of terror for the slave column as attack after attack was carried out by the Altar Skulkers and their new allies. The party used their wiles and skills to carry out their brutal assault. Vilsis keenly disrupted a colony of poisonous insects amidst the marching mercenaries. Bost filled the silence of the night with a terrifying wolf’s cry, rattling in the ears of the superstitious slavers. Birel deftly tricked and distracted members of the guard as Dazeel used her stealth and acrobatics to keenly dispose of them with her chakka. Zuri, nude and covered with crushed glowworm matter, created a terrifying display of intimidation as it climbed to the highest point available and unleashed a blinding dazzling ray across the alarmed column. As the sun rose, the column was short 36 mercenaries, and light 36 slaves, many of whom were now seen scurrying along the hills with spears in their newly freed hands.

It was then that our heroes saw the intimidating walls of the Dragon’s Altar cresting on the horizon…